It Might As Well Be Robbery: Radiator Headaches
Before we drywalled the basement walls we needed to re-install the radiator. We had the radiator removed in preparation for the professional waterproofing we had done. The floor around the perimeter of the basement was broken up and dug out to install a drainage system, and the radiator was in the way.
Since this radiator is in the basement, the pipes feeding it were not hidden because the walls are cinder block. We didn’t want the exposed pipes in the finished room, so we built a stud wall 1-foot from the cinder block wall. Then we cut into the studs to make an alcove for the radiator to sit in. The pipes can now run behind the stud wall. The advantage to this is that furniture can be pushed flat against the wall in front of the radiator. We will cover the alcove with a screen and trim it out with molding when we are all done.
I completely forgot that we needed to trim out the interior of the alcove before the radiator could be put back! So we scrambled to cut up a piece of plywood, paint and caulk it, in time for the plumber.
I also decided to paint the radiator. Before we had it removed, it had collected 80 years of spider webs and egg sacks – gross! Since I was dealing with metal, I took the following steps to prep it:
- Vacuumed it well
- Washed it down and let it dry
- Scrapped off loose paint with a wire brush
- Primed it with a metal paint primer
I think (through all the rust) the original color was silver. I have painted the other radiators in the house black, because I like how they stand out as an architectural element. Clearly, this is not a photo from my home, but this gives you the idea.
This radiator will be hidden by a screen in an alcove, so I painted it a medium gray.
Thankfully the plumber who removed the radiator installed valves on the pipes that feed it so we didn’t have to drain the boiler to have it re-installed. Finally a contractor with some forethought! It would have been a very cold day in February if he hadn’t added the valves.
He also informed me that the pipes feeding all the radiators and running to the boiler are not galvanized steel as I thought. They are black iron; the same material used today if hot water radiators are installed. This is good news because the new trend in updating your utilities is to rip out all the galvanized steel because it rusts and breaks down quickly. Iron lasts longer and doesn’t rust as easily….supposedly. We have plenty of rust, so I’m not sure how true this is.
The radiator’s themselves are cast iron and weight hundreds of pounds empty. Imagine moving one full of water! The plumber heating and cooling boiler certified technician, needed another technician to help him move the radiator 1 foot to its final resting place.
Then, the technician discovered that the other valve that feeds the hot water into the radiator was broken and would leak 
So a new one had to be ordered at the price of $183!!!!!!!! What the heck. I’m sure I could have researched one online and purchased it for less, but we were in a tight spot with drywall starting, so we just went with it. I also don’t know how many places stock hot water radiator valves that would fit my 80-year-old model. Bah.
This delayed us five days. When they finally came back and installed it, we were slapped with a $550 bill (including the $183) – not cool. The frustrating thing is, out of all the plumbers in Ann Arbor, only two companies have plumbers certified to work on boilers and hot water/steam systems. All of the other plumbers we call refuse to do the job. So we are stuck paying these OBSCENE prices. It might as well be robbery. When do I get to charge $120/hour for my time? Can I sell parts and mark them up 100%? Must be nice.
Robbery!
Here is the finished product:
I really like the color of the..goo?…(I’m not sure what it is) that they used to seal the pipes. Can I get that in a paint chip 
Painting: Living Room Freshen Up
I spent this weekend trying to catch up on a few open projects. A few months ago a posted a poll on what color to re-paint the living room. I even posted a comment on the Old House Web forum, hoping to get some suggestions. I have painted this room THREE TIMES and I wanted to make the right color choice.
I purchased a few test samples from the hardware store and put them up against the fireplace, and then promptly did nothing. I guess the multi-colored walls got a little old because my Hubby really started complaining about all the half-done house projects Friday night. I think it was basement anxiety (will it ever be complete?!?) spilling over onto all the other unfinished projects. So, after much debate I went with Bone White in Matte by Benjamin Moore.
Apparently this is very popular color. I Googled Bone White and this is what turned up (click image for link):
I wanted a color that was light, rich, and gave just enough contrast with the white fireplace. I needed it to work with the creams, tans, reds and blues in the room, and coordinate with the fireplace tile. Notice all the colors tested out all over the room – I had to make sure!
Before
What do you think of the finished product below? The room is so much more fresh, but still cozy. I also had my Hubby change the drapery hardware that flank the fireplace to something more substantial. He cut down an old rod and drilled holes for the finials.
After
Before painting I filled all the nail and screw holes with plaster. I also had to fix the ceiling detail. Do you see the moldy plaster compound in the photo below? YUCK!!! This is what happens if you don’t hammer the lid shut after you use it.
Before and During:
I did two coats, and cut-in twice. I only used a gallon of paint for the whole room. Purchasing high quality paint is worth it. A cheaper paint would have been very thin and I definitely would have needed 2 gallons, especially since I was going over such a dark color. Good bye test samples and paint swatches!
By the way, what should I do with this niche?! I never like how it looks. I was thinking of using it for books?
I do not plan to paint this room again – ever! It ended up taking me 6 hours on Saturday and 4 hours on Sunday, and I spend $60 (paint and rollers). Whenever I paint I used a high quality brush to cut in, not tape. Whatever you are taping off should be removed. For example, I don’t paint around the light switch covers or the drapery hardware, I remove it. Your results will be more professional if you remove all the hardware prior to painting.
Reader Room Design: Decal Wall Treatment
After my Simple and Stylish Kitchen Organization post a reader contacted me for input on the design of her son’s bedroom. The Home Office Wall Treatment post inspired her to get motivated once she saw how an easy project can have a big impact.
She decided to start with a wall treatment and the inspiration for the room came from these wall designs:
Let me start by saying this:
- We are all not talented artists. Even though these are simple and cartoon -like paintings, I think we have all had the experience where you try to duplicate something, spend a lot of time on it, and it ends up looking like a big steamy pile of you know what.
- Another thing to think about is the cost. There are 5-10 different colors here. So you will need to purchase each of these paints, as well as different types and sizes of brushes to capture the right brush strokes and level of detail. You could easily spend $50-$100.
- Then there is the time needed to complete the paintings. Some of the colors can be blended when wet, but the others will need to dry before the next color can be applied.
Have I dashed your hopes of a cute themed children’s room? I hope not! I have a few simple solutions to simulate this look, invest less time, and make it easy to change as your child ages.
Vinyl wall decals are a great wall to add a image to a wall without making it permanent.They can be reused and can be peeled away without leaving a residue if you get tired of the look.
I broke down the inspiration images above into elements that can be easily replicated:
- Tree
- Grass
- Train
- Plane
- Clouds
A quick search of the internet pulled up the following decals available to purchase online. Click on the picture to go to the original source and order from there.
*Note: A lot of these decals come in multiple sizes. i.e. the 6ft tall tree decal is $109, but the 4ft decal is $45.
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$100 can buy you the tree ($45), grass($35) and cloud decals ($15). The grass decal can be put on the same wall as the tree decal, hiding the bottom of the tree. Clouds can be placed around the branches and on opposite walls. Maybe nestle a plane into a grouping of clouds?
The best thing about the decals is you can try a variation of layouts and combinations because they peel right off. If you don’t like how it looks, you can start over in 10 seconds. If you do a mural and you don’t like it, you have to repaint the wall the base color (in this case blue) and start all over.
How about mixing it up with paint and decals? Paint on the clouds and green hills, and place the decal train and plane on top of your painting?
What do you think?
Happy V-Day My Way
I’m not a huge fan of Valentine’s day. I over-think and over-plan just about everything in my life, and holidays are no exception. My desire to make things perfect usually results in a let-down when everything is said and done. So on days like today, it is very hard for me to let go of control and let things happen, because the result may not meet my expectations. Well, I need to get over myself and realize how good I have it. After putting my office together the other week, and staging the bookshelf with frames and baskets, something appeared on a shelf one morning: the mini LOVE sculpture my hubby brought back from one of his business trips. He found it somewhere, (I had misplaced it!) and seeing it reminded me of how thoughtful he can be. V-Day will be a great day, not because it is perfectly planned, or because of flowers(but you know I’m a push over for flowers) and candy, but because I get to spend it with him.
Since IT IS that pink sappy holiday today, I thought I would share a funny story with you about my husband. We are infinitely different, and yet, have so much in common. An example of our differences showed itself yesterday when we were unloading the groceries.
I was neatly stacking cans in the pantry, and folding up the grocery bags. My hubby was loading the veggies into the fridge. I picked a carton of OJ out of one of the bags and turned to the fridge to put it away. To my visual and organizational dismay, Geoff had put a different vegetable on each shelf. Tomatoes (yes, yes, I know they are a fruit) next to the egg carton, radishes by the bread, asparagus near the sour cream, and…. Oh, what’s that? He actually put lettuce in the veggie bin. How he lives with that kind of randomness in his life is beyond me. I am all about order, and quickly tucked all the vegetables into the proper bin at the bottom of the fridge.
The randomness Geoff brings to my life is sometimes a headache, but other times very much-needed. How tightly wound would I be married to some one just like me? It’s a scary thought. He reminds me that nothing is perfect; everything is fallible. Things may not always go as I plan, and I might run out of time to get it all done. BIG DEAL. It’s OK to go to bed with the dishes in the sink, to not always make the bed, and yesterday, to introduce our produce to a new neighbor.
OK, ENOUGH SAPPY TALK. I’m beginning to feel ill.
Power Tool Link Party
Join the Party!
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Hosted by A Home in College Hill and First Home Dreams
Are you a woman who can wield a circular saw or a hammer drill? Do you want to be? Do you give the pro’s a run for their money? Are you a guy who loves power tools and you’re feeling left out? Don’t worry, we won’t exclude you This is your opportunity to link-up your most recent power tool project with others. There are a few rules/suggestions outlined below. If you link-up it would be really nice if you did all or at least one of the following:
Link Party Rules/Suggestions
- Follow me: Like A Home In College Hill on Facebook or follow by email/feed
- BlogLove: Click through the other linked-up posts and leave a comment on at least one.
- Pretty Please: Add a link in your post back to to the blog where you are partying (in this case, here ).
- If you want to: Add the link party button to your blog sidebar (using the code underneath) so other bloggers can get in on the fun.
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How to Lower and Level a Ceiling
I thought I would share the clever way the carpenter lowered the ceiling in the basement. Our home was built in the 1930′s and the floor joists of the first floor and bowed and wavy at best (they are also rock hard like petrified wood). Even if we didn’t have to lower the basement ceiling to hide the radiator pipes (which criss-cross under the joists), we would have to level it out. If we screwed the drywall directly into the joists it would surly crack. In some places there is up to a 2″ difference between the bottom of one joist to the other, as you can see in the photo below. Check out our progress on the basement remodel here: Basement Posts.
The carpenter used the following steps to level the ceiling out:
- White arrows: Along the perimeter of the room he nailed boards flush against the wall and the length we wanted to lower the ceiling, and leveled each board with a straight level.
- White lines/blue arrows: Then he tacked a string to the board (white arrows) directly under each joist, and pulled it taught all the way across (to the opposite side of the room) and tacked it to the board there. These strings marked the new height of the ceiling now perfectly level.
- Pink arrows: He ripped down 2″x6″ boards to make 2″x3″s (we needed the ceiling to be lowered 3″). He lined up the boards perpendicular to the floor joists 16″ on center.
- Green arrows: He shimmed the boards (pink arrows) flush to the strings and screwed them in place.
That’s it. The ceiling now level, the 1st floor is less squeaky with all the cross bracing below and all the radiator pipes are hidden beneath a ceiling of the same height instead of varying levels and bulkheads.
This project involved a few power tools including a table saw and power drill. If you have done a project involving these tools or other power tools and you’re itching to share it, check back on Wednesday for the Power Tool Link Party where you can link up your blog post.
7×7 Blog Award: You Like Me, You Really Like Me!
This week Ashley from First Home Dreams nominated me for the 7×7 blog award.
Thank you Ashley! As part of the terms of acceptance, I will be nominating other bloggers and letting them know they have been nominated.
I made up my own button since there doesn’t seem to be one out there. It’s pink it honor of the upcoming holiday.
- I am a complete push over for flowers and kittens
- I used to travel 50 weeks a year for work
- Our dog shares his name with the OSU mascot – so sad, but true
- I love living in the Midwest and wouldn’t dream of moving somewhere else
- I ran the Detroit Marathon in 2005
- My background and degree is in science
- I’m not a girly girl, but I do like a pedicure
Share 7 of your blog posts that fit into the following categories:
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Nominate 7 other bloggers:
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Basement Update: Electrical Complete and Ceiling Lowered
Hurrah for today! As of 8:30AM this morning, all the electrical lines were run, the lights and switches are installed, and the ceiling has been lowered to hide the radiator pipes that run below the floor joists of the second floor. All of this means that: WE ARE READY FOR DRYWALL!!!!!
Check out all of the progress on the basement on the Basement Post Page.
family room looking toward the stairs
family room
lowered ceiling
electrical ready for drywall
After drywall, all that is left is carpet, finish trim, and details (well not really, but lets just pretend for now). We are so close to getting the basement finished I feel it! Some final decisions have come up, like “Should we wire the room for surround sound while we have the chance?” , “what color carpet to pick?”, “should the stair railing match the one upstairs”? I don’t mind all the uncertainty because this is the fun stuff. Designing and decorating the space is the best part. Geoff seems to agree….after I spent months orchestrating this whole project he asked if he could pick out the bathroom floor tile. GASP! Way to steal my thunder Geoff (don’t worry, I still love you). We can certainly pick it out together, but there’s no way I’m giving him full reigns.I deserve some retail therapy (in the form of paint chips and fabric swatches) after all of this work.
Updates next week on the carpet and tiles choices.
Simple and Stylish Kitchen Organization
Whenever you see a kitchen in a magazine the counters and window sills are free of clutter. Appliances are put away and there are no cleaning utilities in site.
Let’s be real, no one lives like that. I need the soap where I can use it. Sure I could put it under the cabinet, but then every time I need it, I have to open the cabinet with dirty hands. Gross. Sticky cabinet pulls and fridge handles are a total pet peeve of mine. How yucky is it to open the fridge and sweep your fingers over some sticky goo or crusty something? Blahhahhh.
Our soap has lived on the window sill (not so pretty) because there isn’t any room on the counter behind the sink. Now that I’m looking at the picture, doesn’t the faucet look lonely there all by its self? No spray thing-a-ma-gig or soap dispenser built into the granite to keep it company. It’s also slightly off-center under the window which makes me nuts. Why didn’t the PO center the sink when they installed the granite? Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy.
Before
My untamed desire to start lots of new projects combined with my recent trip to IKEA resulted in a very stylish solution for the lonely faucet and cluttered window sill. I picked up a rail and a bunch of hooks that can be used to hang coffee cups, and baskets/containers. The black finish and traditional styling matched my kitchen details precisely and the white pots set off the upper cabinets.
Kitchen fintorp kitchen series:
Ta Da! The faucet has gained two friends in the form of white hanging pots, and the soap/ sponge are nestled into their new home. The best part is the hooks are moveable and slide along the rail so I can add another pot in the future. We do intend to put up a backsplash soon. Maybe Carrara marble or grey glass subway tile? Not sure which one, but the rail can easily be installed on top of the tile. In the meantime, I really enjoy how the steel casement windows are highlighted by all the coordinating black accents. I plan to swap out the faucet at some point. I want to keep the style but change the color to “oil rubbed bronze” aka black in order to keep the color scheme consistent.
After
What do you think? Backsplash suggestions? Other good kitchen organizing ideas?
I linked this post up to: Under The Table and Dreaming
Home Office Progress: Putting It All Together
While I’m not done with everything for the office yet, I’m getting close.
BEFORE:
Before: Front Window
ceiling fan has to go
Before: Vanity Wall
Before: Desk Wall
Before: Shelf Wall
PROGRESS: Painting
Click here for details on inspiration for the wall treatment and how to get the tutorial.
Taking forever to paint……..but, I love the way it’s turning out.
PROGRESS: Shelving
The boxes were really heavy so my friend John had to help bring them in the house and up the stairs. If you have a wide open in space to assemble the shelves, I suggest you use it. There was lots of assembling and then flipping, and then assembling to get it together in the little floor space the office offered.
Also, there was some swearing when I put this together. I broke one of the shelves half way through, but you can’t really tell now that’s it’s put together, since I stuck a basket right on top of the cracked shelf – instant fix! The instructions are in pictures only, no words…..some kind of cruel joke? I’m not sure.
I am still looking for a new light fixture and vanity mirror. I also need to decide what to do for the windows, shades or drapes?
Better, but not pretty.
Storage for all my hair/make-up/skin-care
PROGRESS: Decor
This was fun! After the Pottery Barn Class, My friend and I went to Home Goods. This store has everything all the big name store do, but for much less. I picked up a few more baskets (in addition to the ones from Pottery Barn) to hid my vanity accessories, picture frames to decorate the space above, a few glass candle holders, and two wall shelves.
Desk items I don't use every day are now stashed away.
Stacks of paper now out of sight
I have seen this a million times on tv and on other websites. The ”how to hang a group of frames without a level or a tape measure”. It works pretty well as I show below. Now I just need to put in the photos.
Trace around the frames
Tape the outline to the wall
Hammer nails through the marks
Ta Da!
All cleaned up and looking pretty
Storage cabinet and hanging file from IKEA. Re-purposed mirror.
Re-purposed crystal desk lamps with new IKEA shades, baskets and floating shelves from Home Goods
Almost done!
